Fire and Water
by sweet-as-salt
Summary: "What, that we are being repeated in our successors? No, we know how we worked out, and can guess how they will also; there's no airbender to make Korra's eye wander."


"Fire Lord Zuko."

"Master Katara." The two stood side by side, the compound's porch protecting them from the cold winds and providing the perfect platform to watch the new Avatar train, bright streaks of fire and water flying from her nimble fingers.

"You've trained her well," Zuko noted, his tone still formal, still tense, as if the woman standing next to him wasn't a close friend, a fellow soldier and sufferer, "She really is becoming who she needs to be." Katara just nodded, surreptitiously trying to figure out what was wrong with her friend.

"She really is coming on with her airbending," The former Fire Lord continued his analysis, watching Korra try to blow her sparring partner back, "She might be able to rival Aang, or at least equal him, in some time."

"She isn't Aang, Zuko." Katara snapped sharply back, causing Zuko to _finally_ react to her, turning and raising an eyebrow. Katara just sighed, waving her hand, "Too many people compare that girl to Aang; no one seems to realise that it's only the spirit that is passed on, not the person. Only their memory." Katara finished sadly, and she knew that she was giving the game away; as much as she cared for Korra, she still wished her husband was beside her.

"Are you as much at fault as the rest of them?" He asked quietly, and Katara smiled at the tone of her friend, feeling his presence, his warmth and gentleness, return to the air.

"Of looking for Aang in Korra? For a while, yes, I did; but, after some time, watching her grow, listening to her problems, one of them being trying to live up to Aang, I realised that she was her own person, only the spirit and the memories are not her own. I began to look at, and love Korra, for the strong, remarkable woman she is."

"I have to admit, I tried looking for him a couple of times when we first met," Zuko said softly, smiling as Korra kicked at her opponent, fire licking at her calf, "But I quickly caught onto the fact that she had to be her own person; I think, had she been like Aang, moulded herself to him and others' wishes, she would have never been able to achieve all that she has." Korra was laughing, helping her fallen comrade up, and kissing the dark-haired Firebender on the cheek as he glared at her; "She reminds me of you, a bit."

"Me?" Katara asked, surprised, a disbelieving chuckle escaping her, "How?"

"You look a lot alike, for starters, but you both have the same spirit... to reach the end of things, to make things right no matter the cost." They watched as the Firebender grabbed the Avatar around the waist as she tried to walk away, laughing at her squeal, spinning her around to place a kiss on her lips.

"He looks a lot like you; that Firebender of Korra's; Mako, his name is." Now it was Zuko's turn to laugh, turning to face his friend with an eyebrow raised.

"Are we trying to insinuate something, Master Katara?"

"What, that we are being repeated in our successors? No, we know how we worked out, and can guess how they will also; there's no airbender to make Korra's eye wander."

"Your eyes wandered, away from me, of all things? So I was a contender after all." The Fire Lord commented smugly, returning his gaze to the lovers in the courtyard, now preparing for another fight.

"Zuko!" Katara gasped, making the Firebender chuckle, and she couldn't stop the smile that she found on her face.

"It would be easier if you admitted it, Katara." He teased quietly, suddenly a teen again, no longer an eighty-something year old man with peace keeping responsibilities with an expert waterbender beside him. Katara just huffed, her arms crossing, her gaze back on the fight; Zuko smirked, getting his answer. They watched as Korra switched her elements, switched her fighting styles, always adapting, always changing, still leaving room for her boyfriend to catch up every time.

"Do you think we were, or could've ever been like that?" Katara asked quietly, drawing her coat tightly around herself, sounding like her teenage self again, unsure, upset and curious about the whole world. Zuko smiled softly, pulling her closer, ignoring all rules of decorum and cultures, pressing his lips to her white hair.

"Yeah, we were like that, at one point, and, yeah, maybe we could've been like that... maybe." They stayed that way, close, keeping one another together, watching with soft smiles as their descendents fought, laughing and smiling, kissing each other as soon as they were close enough, glowing in the white light of the South Pole. Zuko and Katara watched not only Mako and Korra, training, falling in love, but themselves, their past, and their future that could've been.

When night fell, and Mako and Korra retired to their room, arms wrapped around each other, Zuko and Katara followed, ghosts watching over the future, each wishing for the other, and what could've been.


End file.
